Undoing the Knots that Bind Us

When one realizes the Self, in whom
All life is one, changeless, nameless, formless,
Then one fears no more. Until we realize
The unity of life, we live in fear.

- The Taittiriya Upanishad

Within the Vedantic tradition it is a well-known axiom that the mind is the source of bondage, and that it is also the source of liberation. As Sri Ramakrishna stated, “Bondage is of the mind; freedom too is of the mind. If you say 'I am a free soul. I am a son of God who can bind me' free you shall be.” The problem is that we have to mean it when we say it. Just repeating the words won’t do. Believe me I’ve tried.

The bondage of our minds is composed of our beliefs. What we believe to be true is what we experience as our particular reality. As a cognitive therapist I have often worked with clients to help them uncover and dismantle the irrational, limiting beliefs that cause them to suffer from depression, anxiety, poor self-esteem, etc. Could it be though that we are caught up in deeper, collective beliefs that bind us? Because these beliefs are collective they would appear as “common sense” and so slip by our attention unquestioned.

Beliefs in this sense are not just “thoughts,” but concepts about ourselves and our world to which we are deeply, and often unconsciously, emotionally attached. Even to question them can evoke deep existential anxiety. Thus someone who is deeply committed to a religious perspective becomes defensive when his beliefs are challenged, as does someone who is deeply committed to the scientific materialist view. Both are irrational in that they have strong emotional needs to maintain their view of reality. But what happens to us when events occur which call our most basic beliefs into question?

The yogic path is not about arguing the correctness of a belief system. It is not about creating or defending a religious or philosophical perspective. It is not about developing a “new paradigm.” Instead it is about quieting the mind and perceiving “what is” directly and unadulterated. It is about releasing our emotional attachments and seeing through our concepts. Ultimately it means investigating the “seer;” the source of our awareness. And the only way to do this is by being it.

Going Beyond Appearances

You are a volume in the divine book.
A mirror to the power that created the universe.
Whatever you want, ask it of yourself.
Whatever you’re looking for can only
be found inside of you.

- Rumi

Probably the most basic belief that we share is that the world as we perceive it through our senses is “the world.” This assumption is referred to as “basic ignorance,” or avidya, in both yogic and Buddhist terms. Instead we know that our sensory experience of an external world “out there” is a mixture of approximately 20% direct sensory input and 80% unconscious mental processing. As the writer Anais Nin put it, "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." What we perceive is actually “mind,” a construct or model of “reality.” This is not a negative or bad thing. It simply means that our experience is actually a creative, or interactive activity. The physicist John Wheeler coined the phrase “participatory universe” to describe how this seems to be happening on a quantum level.

I have had friends ask, “Does this mean there is no reality out there?” Sometimes followed by, “I believe there must be something out there.” My deep intuition is that there is a larger reality of which we are part. However, are “in here” and “out there” just categories of thought; deeply ingrained beliefs regarding the nature of reality? It’s not that “reality is all in your head,” perhaps, in fact, your “head” doesn’t exist either! Your “head” and my “head” are just the flip-side of ignorance which we generally refer to as “the ego.” You can’t have your duality and eat it too. (Whatever that might mean : )

Part of our problem is that the way we perceive the world is based in the “hard wiring” of our brains. Our brain structures have evolved from our most primitive “relatives,” and the most primitive structure is referred to as the “reptilian brain.” This part of the brain is geared towards seeing reality in terms of survival; me versus whatever, or whoever might want to devour me. The four functions of the lower brain include: feeding, fighting, fleeing and reproduction. As such it represents an inherited “belief” in our identification with the physical body. This is the most basic “knot” that we have to undo on the path of spiritual evolution. In terms of kundalini yoga it is known as the “Brahma granthi” and is understood as the primary knot by which spirit is bound to matter, i.e. bound by the belief that we are simply our physical bodies.

Meditation simply means making the mind quiet. There are a variety of methods for doing this. The point is not the method but the state of inner peace and the expanded awareness that we experience. Even when the mind is in motion we can enter into our soul’s perspective – recognize our inner witnessing awareness. When we move into this awareness we are free from anxiety, fear, anger or any form of tension. We are aware of the body, aware of the world as it appears to us, but we are not identified with it. From this perspective we can dissolve the tangled knots of past impressions, chronic stress and painful attachments.

A few months back I was at a place of extreme stress in my life. I had been out of work for several months and was running out of money. I had no where to stay and had spent the night in my car barely sleeping. I went to a local park and begin hiking to work off some of the anxiety which was threatening to overwhelm me. As I was walking I remember feeling embarrassed that people would see me and know that I was a homeless person. After a while I found a quiet spot to sit, took out my mala (rosary) and began silently repeating my mantra. As my mind settled somewhat and I was able to shift into the witnessing awareness, I was engulfed by a sense of profound peace. Suddenly I was aware of the beauty of the little park, the wind in the trees, birds singing and the gentle warmth of the sun. I felt and knew that it was all held within this awareness of which I was not a separate entity but an integral part. As I surrendered further into this state of peace a sense of joy developed within me along with a sense of both loving and being loved. My immediate problems did not disappear but they lost their power to make me desperate and anxious. I had found a deeper and larger sense of being in which they seemed almost minor.

The amazing thing is that this inner state of peace is present and available to us all the time. When we are caught up in the ongoing story of our lives though, we forget to access it. The regular practice of meditation helps us to not only access this state but begin to live in it. When we are present as witnessing awareness to any experience we open up to a field of potential beyond limiting thoughts and beliefs. When we are at peace and our ego minds are not fighting, judging or trying to hide from present experience there are many possibilities. Within the vaster state of inner peace our knots begin to dissolve because we are not busy pulling them tighter!

Awakening through the Chakras

Don’t go outside your house to see flowers.
My friend, don’t bother with that excursion.
Inside your body there are flowers.
One flower has a thousand petals.
That will do for a place to sit.
Sitting there you will have a glimpse of beauty
Inside the body and out of it,
Before gardens and after gardens.

- Kabir (Version by Robert Bly)


The chakras are centers of psychic energy within our subtle bodies. As such they are not material objects in any sense. You can’t find them by dissecting a corpse, nor can they be directly measured by any of our current scientific instruments. They can be known however through personal experience developed through the practice of inner yoga.

To better understand the chakras we must look into the yogic idea of the subtle body. From this ancient perspective each of us is composed of three concurrent bodies: the physical, or shtula sharira, the subtle, or linga sharira and the causal, or karana sharira. The yogic path of awakening and liberation is to move from an exclusive fixation with the physical dimension of our beings into awareness of the subtle dimension and from there into the even subtler dimension of the causal body. Eventually the enlightened and liberated yogi transcends all three bodies to realize his or her true being as pure consciousness, Atman.

The three bodies, or dimensions of our beings, need not be an abstract, esoteric concept. We live in and through them constantly. We experience the physical body when we are awake in the relative sense, the subtle body is experienced through dreams and the causal is experienced in deep, dreamless sleep. When we are able to develop an uninterrupted awareness through all of these states we awaken to the Self, the intrinsic awareness within and beyond the three states.

We can understand these dimensions of being in terms of modern physics and the holonomic theory of physicist David Bohm. Bohm posited the existence of an “implicate order” beneath the material universe. The world as we experience it is known as the “explicate order.” The implicate order is the subtle, hidden structure out of which the physical reality unfolds. Beyond the implicate is also a supra-implicate order which we can equate with the causal dimension of being. Bohm developed this theory to explain the apparent randomness of quantum physics.

Both Bohm’s and Yogic theory agree that the physical form is based in a more subtle dimension or being. It is the expression of deeper unconscious patterns of energy. As we develop awareness of this hidden dimension through chakra awareness we can bring about psychosomatic transformation, healing and begin to transcend the physical dimension to realize ourselves as eternal, blissful spiritual beings.

Symbols of the Chakras

There are many different interpretations of the science of the chakras. Of course, the differences are not that great, but they are there. The thinkers of the Theosophical movements and their predecessors have their own interpretations of the chakras, their location points, their colours and so on. The Rosicrucians and others may say something completely different and the tantric texts may also present entirely different concepts.

- Swami Satyananda Saraswati



Within the tradition of Tantra Yoga the chakras are often described as lotus flowers with varying numbers of petals and colors. The petals are inscribed with the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet. Within the lotuses are various symbols as well, of the elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether,) representative animals, presiding deities, etc. These symbols comprise a language for talking about energetic structures which are not directly observable or measureable, i.e. “subtle.” The symbols are valuable but it is important not to become too attached to them. We do not want to intellectualize the whole system to the exclusion of the direct inner experience of the chakras.

The term “chakra” means “wheel.” The chakras are described most basically as rotating and vibratory vortices of psychic energy. The concept of chakras has become quite popular these days and it is not uncommon for people to talk about their chakras. From the Yogic perspective this is a little suspect. It actually takes some time and consistent yoga practice to activate the chakras. Generally they are quite dormant and buried within the deep levels of the unconscious mind. “In ordinary persons,” writes Lillian Silburn, “these wheels neither revolve nor vibrate, they form inextricable tangles of coils, called accordingly “knots” (granthi), because they “knot” spirit and matter, thus strengthening the sense of ego. . . . Together they constitute the unconscious complexes (samskara) woven by illusion, and the weight and rigidity of the past offers a strong opposition to the passage of the spiritual force.”

The chakras can be experienced in different ways. Within the physical body they are associated with the various plexuses along the spinal column as well as the endocrine glands in those general areas of the body. The figure below gives an indication of the physical “location” of the chakras.

The chakras are also associated with different parts of the brain. Swami Satyananda stated that the physical chakra locations are actually “switches” for circuits within the brain. As we awaken the spiritual energy of the chakras, the kundalini, we supply power to dormant brain circuits enabling us to awaken higher psychic and spiritual capacities.

The chakras can also be experienced within the psychic dimension as symbols in dreams or meditation, intuitive or psychic experiences or unusual sensations such as heat or tingling within the body. They are also experienced as situations, relationships and events in daily life.

The Chakras and the Evolution of Consciousness

The chakras can also be understood as stages on a developmental or evolutionary path. They represent the stages of development that we have passed through and higher states and stages which are potential within us. As Swami Satyananda wrote,

All life is evolving and man is no exception. Human evolution, the evolution which we are undergoing relentlessly, both as individuals and as a race, is a journey through the different chakras. Mooladhara is the most basic, fundamental chakra from where we commence our evolution, and sahasrara is where our evolution is completed. As we evolve towards sahasrara, outer experiences come our way in life, and inner experiences come to us in meditation, as different capacities and centers awaken progressively within the nervous system. This occurs as energy flows at higher voltages and rates of vibration through the different nadis in the psychic body. (Kundalini Tantra)

The Yogic view corresponds to the scientific view of the universe as going through an evolutionary process. The Yogic view however sees this as primarily an evolution of consciousness. Material evolution is simply the most basic and apparent aspect. Consciousness evolves in and through material forms until it is released back into its true nature as timeless, formless essence. As human beings we have divine potential within us as well as the potential for destruction. Yoga offers us a means to overcome our lower and to awaken our higher nature. This has been corroborated by studies which show that meditation can enhance ego-development in adults. The Yoga tradition tells us though that we can develop beyond the ordinary levels of ego-development.

Human beings have evolved to a level of consciousness wherein we can either engage in our spiritual evolution or stagnate in a quagmire of self-indulgence, addiction, neurosis, aggression and self-destruction. The spiritual path necessitates overcoming our instinctual, unconscious natures. It requires transcendence of our narrow self-centered egos. Engaging in consciousness evolution essentially means doing inner work: self-observation, meditation and spiritual devotion. It also means behaving ethically in the world, developing a healthy lifestyle and disconnecting to some extent from the ubiquitous digital electronic world that tends to absorb our attention.

Chakra awareness requires a meditative attitude – the ability to become quiet and open to inner experience. As you meditate on the chakras you may come up with your own symbols. You will discover your inner power, creativity, intent, love, wisdom, psychic and spiritual connections. You will begin to untie the knots, the limiting beliefs and conflicted emotions which bind you and realize your potential as a spiritual being who is having a temporary human experience.

UPCOMING EVENT:
 
Experiencing the Chakras:
A Meditation Workshop with Michael Garrity (Swami Turiyananda)

Saturday, Sept. 10, 2011 9:00 am to 12:00 pm

The Spiritual Treatment Center
602 Church Street, Redlands, CA

The cost for this workshop is $20.00 but no one is excluded due to lack of funds. Please RSVP by Thurs. Sept. 8, 2011 by calling (909) 793-4003.

(Vegetarian lunch will be provided following the workshop.)

Finding Yourself in the Supermarket of Life

Inner happiness is not determined by material circumstances or sensual gratification. It depends on our mind.


- The Dalai Lama



In the early 1980s I was studying yoga with Swami Niranjan in San Jose, CA. He introduced me to not only the physical practices of yoga, the asanas and pranayamas, but also to meditation practices, chanting, karma yoga and self-inquiry. Each was a piece of the larger puzzle called yoga, or “union.” Yoga is not so much a particular practice as it is an overall orientation towards life. For most of us it is a major reorientation – of values, world-view and self-understanding. To truly enter the path of yoga you have to turn your world upside down. This is why Swamiji would often say, with a mischievous grin, that the “headstand” was his favorite asana.

During that time another acharya, or accomplished teacher, Swami Amritananda made a visit to the US and to our tiny yoga center in an apartment on Third Street. She presented a series of meditation workshops and satsangs where she would she would talk about all aspects of yoga. Swami Niranjan warned me that Amritananda was quite severe. She didn’t engage in casual silliness, discouraged idle conversation and embodied tapas, or “austerity.” She was a very beautiful woman but left no room for any kind of sexual overture – not that I had that intention.

Both Swamis exemplified the non-attachment, vairagya, which is a hallmark of the yogic life. They owned minimal possessions and lived in extremely simple circumstances. They didn’t crave entertainment or distraction but were content in the moment. They both evidenced a single-pointed focus on the goal of living, exemplifying and imparting the essence of yoga to all who were open to receive it. For me they represented the antithesis of the shallow, materialistic life of the West and a possible clue to the emptiness that I felt within myself.

At one satsang, Swami Amritananda explained that we should look at the world as a vast supermarket, full of products that seem appealing on the surface but which are ultimately worthless at best. The audience was comprised mostly of Californian hippies into natural foods and such. In general they seemed to think that they were already pretty hip to Swamiji’s message. One young woman joined in, “Yeah, instead of going shopping we should go somewhere natural like the beach.” Amritananda’s reply stopped everyone in their tracks. “The beach,” she said, “is another item in the supermarket.”

True spiritual teachers are often not popular. They don’t give the polite answers that we would like to hear. Buddha for example made a point of teaching that all experiences in life are tainted with suffering. The supermarket of life is filled with these potential experiences. We keep hoping however that we will find that perfect product which will never let us down. We buy lots of insurance to back it up. The truth is that everything in life will fail at some point. Nothing is permanent, and nothing can satisfy the innate longing within us to find and return to our source. The problem is that what we are truly seeking cannot be found anywhere outside of ourselves.

How does one seek inside though? At the time it seemed that the self I knew was hardly worth looking into. It was full of guilt, shame, rage, anxiety and depression. I was busy trying to cover this all up and act “spiritual,” in hopes really of fooling myself as well as anyone else. I didn’t so much want to go inside myself as become somebody else. The problem with spiritual teachers is that they tend to see right through our masquerades. I too was a California hippie. I had spent the last few years rebelling against the “plastic” world around me. I had tried sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Now we were more into natural foods, being mellow and trying to make the best of the poverty that comes with disengaging from the “system.”

Now Amritananda’s words pierced the bubble of my tentative illusions. It was all a ruse, a way of dodging, not just the “reality” that my dear father was constantly exhorting me to face, but the reality inside. We tend to spend our time and energy seeking to rearrange the world outside of ourselves thinking that somehow we will get it right and find lasting happiness. True happiness, however, is not contingent on anything outside of ourselves. This includes our thoughts, beliefs, ideologies, philosophies, fantasies, etc. The Self is the awareness which underlies all the experiences of the mind and the senses. Attachment means clinging to these as a way of establishing an identity-in-the-world, i.e. “ego.” Non-attachment doesn’t so much mean eschewing material possessions as releasing our elaborately constructed and highly defended ego-identities. "The self,” writes Deepak Chopra, “is the isolated ego clinging to its small reality and the Self is the unbounded spirit that can afford to not cling at all."

A healthy, “natural” lifestyle is part of the yogic path. However adopted a healthy lifestyle is just a supportive measure. It can also become just another set of products for the ego to consume. So can nonviolent politics, environmentalism, etc. Yoga “apparel,” props, mats, etc. support yoga practice but also can be used to support a “yoga ego.” The ego can use anything to maintain itself, and in so doing undermine any real potential for change. As a vegetarian I have spent time with fellow converts talking about how disgusting other people who eat meat are. In terms of our consciousness we might have just as well been devouring bloody flesh. Even the idea that “we are all one” can get in the way of realizing our essential being. Consumer beware!

The world of the mind and senses is the world of appearances. In Vedantic terms it is referred to as maya, or illusion. The Self is the awareness which underlies all appearances. It is pure consciousness, pure subject. It can never be found as an object of the senses or of thought. Words can refer to it but they cannot capture it. It is revealed in silence only to have been here all along. All of the practices of yoga, all spiritual sadhanas, are aimed at helping us to let go of the unreal to rest in the reality of being. In Buddhist terms this is referred to as emptiness. It is empty because when you look for it you can’t find anything. Even space is not as empty. On the other hand, it is not “nothing.” It is the source and substance of everything.

The Self, emptiness, consciousness, God, or whatever word we choose to call it, is not another product in the supermarket of life. If you take it home, unwrap it and find out that it is than you have fallen for another counterfeit. It is the divinity within you. It is the “I” behind the ego. You are “It.”

Because our minds are conditioned by karma, by culture, by the media, education and what not to look outside of ourselves, it is very difficult at first to remain established in the realization of the Self, at least for many of us. I received “darshan” of Swami Amritananda on a couple of occasions. The objective world dissolved into light in which there was no separate “me.” I could only stand it for a second before going into weird spasms of ecstasy. On one occasion I ran out into the street into fresh hot asphalt that burnt itself into my bare feet, but I was oblivious. Love is like that. We run away from what is real because it threatens everything that we think we are. Surrender seems so hard but it brings freedom. Once we are free we can stroll through the supermarket with a smile. When the clerk asks, “Can I help you?” Just say, “No thanks. I’m just looking.”

The source of consciousness cannot be an object in consciousness. To know the source is to be the source. When you realize that you are not the person, but the pure and calm witness, and that fearless awareness is your very being, you are the being. It is the source, the Inexhaustible Possibility.

- Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Self-Discipline

If you want to generate electricity from a river, first you have to construct a dam to control the normal flow, ensuring that it becomes a source of greater potential energy. You do not block the passage of water or dry up the river, rather you create more power. That controlled and guided action is sanyam.


Real yoga is sanyam . . .

- Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati



The Yoga tradition tells us that we have a tremendous dormant potential within us that few of us ever realize. This is the potential of consciousness, of the awakened mind. Our ordinary mental state is not very awakened. In fact, it is most often dull and sleepy. We live a great deal of our lives on autopilot, simply following the promptings of our subconscious conditioning. Awakening our dormant potential requires a certain type of self-discipline.

This discipline is outlined in the Yoga Sutras as the “eight limbs,” ashtanga, of Yoga. These include 1) self-restraints or yama and 2) self-cultivation, niyama, 3) posture or asana, 4) breath control, pranayama, 5) disciplined introversion, pratyahara, 6) focused awareness, dharana, 7) true meditation, dhyana and 8) the awakening of non-dual awareness in samadhi. People are generally acquainted with yoga postures and the practice of meditation. However, many don’t know about the ethical discipline of yama and niyama in which we must be grounded in order to make true progress on the path of Yoga.

Quite honestly, for many of us it takes painful experience to learn the value of these practices. They are not arbitrary rules laid down by a punishing deity, as much as practical guidelines for a lifestyle which enhances equanimity and consciousness. They are a means of cultivating inner peace and self-acceptance rather than something to feel guilt about. Swami Satyananda suggested a gradual approach to these disciplines which allows for human weakness. We can start by becoming aware of how many times we habitually violate the yamas and niyamas. In time, it is not a matter of feeling morally superior but experiencing the inner peace which comes from mastering one’s energy. These practices will enhance your self-confidence, interpersonal relationships, career, finances and connection with God.

The practices of yama are fivefold and are thus often referred to as the five yamas. They are 1) Ahimsa – nonviolence, 2) Satya – truthfulness, 3) Asteya – refraining from stealing, 4) Brahmacharya – sexual restraint, 5) Aparigraha – non-possessiveness. According to Patanjali, the mastery of each of these disciplines develops certain powers and abilities within us. Remember the yamas are guidelines rather than rigid rules. We don’t need to become fanatics. Awareness is a good place to start. Become aware of how often you have angry violent thoughts and emotions, how often you are tempted to tell lies (i.e. gossip) or take something that doesn’t belong to you. Notice how often you fantasize about sex and how attached you are to possessions. Each of these habits drains our energy and diverts the focus of our minds from the path of self-evolution. By becoming aware of them we take them out of the realm of subconscious patterns into the light of consciousness. Change starts with self-awareness and self-acceptance.

Niyama is also fivefold and these are referred to as the five niyamas. They are 1) Shaucha – cleanliness, 2) Santosha – contentment, 3) Tapas – austerity, 4) Swadhyaya – study of the self, 5) Ishwarapranidhana – complete surrender to the will of God. While the yamas are concerned with self-restraint the niyamas are concerned with the cultivation of positive spiritual qualities. Again, we don’t want to become fanatics. Cleanliness doesn’t mean we have to be obsessive-compulsive. Contentment doesn’t mean we have to become like sheep. Instead we can become more aware of our personal and environmental cleanliness and reduce our cravings by learning to be present with each moment. Austerity doesn’t mean self-torture but perhaps an ability to accept the conditions we are in without running for comfort.

Swadhyaya is often understood as the study of scriptures which elucidate the nature of the self. However these only have value in that we use them as guidelines for our own practice of self-observation. Self study means being able to observe, analyze and accept all aspects of ourselves.

Ishwarapranidhana is a powerful and difficult practice. It means releasing our need to control things and allowing a higher power, wisdom and love to guide us. Surrender is not a passive process but requires an active attempt to release the ego’s need to be in control.

Yama and niyama work together as do all of the eight limbs of Yoga. They support our practice and help us to develop inner peace and focus. They help us to develop sanyam which really means the complete integration of our personalities. Usually we are conflicted within ourselves. We are subject to unconscious drives which we try to suppress, deny, rationalize or otherwise defend against. At the same time we strive towards ideals which seem to make us into hypocrites at times. The dedicated practice of the integral limbs of Yoga is designed to bring about a transformation of the personality. It requires consistent dedication as well as nonattachment to results. We can’t change a lifetime of habits overnight, let alone many lifetimes worth.

The Spiritual Dimensions of Meditation

The Real You is not a body but a spirit. Identify with your spirit, and you'll be lifted above the limitations of the world.

- Marianne Williamson


The health benefits of meditation are becoming more and more well known. Through meditation practice we can counteract the unhealthy effects of stress in our lives and learn to be healthier and happier. Recent research has documented the ability of meditation to change our brain functioning. A recent article published by ABC News states, “Several studies suggest that these changes through meditation can make you happier, less stressed -- even nicer to other people. It can help you control your eating habits and even reduce chronic pain, all the while without taking prescription medication.” (http://abcnews.go.com/US/meditation-wiring-brain-happiness/story?id=14180253)

Apparently some MDs are now prescribing meditation for their patients. As such meditation practices are generally removed from the context of any particular spiritual tradition. Instead of a means of enlightenment meditation is seen as a form of psychosomatic hygiene. Health is extremely important to us, of course, but it might not be the be and end all of life. It is certainly not the totality of what meditation practice has to offer.

Spirituality is about coming to recognize the inner aspect of our beings which is beyond the body, beyond the physical dimensions of existence. Meditation practices, whether within the context of Buddhism, Vedanta, Sufism or Contemplative Christianity, are means of developing this recognition. Recognition is different from belief and, in fact, our beliefs often get in the way of our recognition. Meditation is not just about rising above the body but also of stepping outside of our mental structures; our concepts and beliefs. It is only then that we come face to face with reality.

We are not able to function without some conceptual system to go on however. Authentic spiritual tradition is not about indoctrinating us with beliefs but guiding us in the process of realization. There are many invaluable scriptures that we can consult which give us directions and descriptions of the awakened state. The point is not to take these purely on faith but to investigate, practice and realize for ourselves. Otherwise they have a very limited value; maybe as beautiful poetry or academic fodder.

Within the Yoga tradition, for example, there are many practices that appear on the surface to be primarily religious. Chanting mantras, visualizing deities or yantras, studying sacred texts, performing labor in a communal setting, etc. are all aspects of the system. They are means for taking us out of ordinary ego-centric consciousness and bringing us closer to God, or Self. We can dispense with these “religious” aspects but in doing so we may be discarding valuable elements of an integral system of spiritual development. On the other hand, there is legitimate danger in becoming overly attached to and identified with a particular form of practice. As Swami Satyananda has said of his system of yoga, “It is my way, but it is not the only way.”

Each of us is on our own personal path through this life. We have our unique lessons to learn, karma to fulfill, and gifts to offer. We also have our own inner personal connection to Spirit. Meditation is an intensely intimate and personal practice, even when we practice with a group. On the other hand it connects us to the impersonal, nonlocal consciousness which is omnipresent. We might choose to call this God, but in doing so must remember that God is ultimately who we are, not something or someone separate. Don’t take my word for it though. Realize for yourself.

Ultimately we are seeking something beyond mental and physical health. These are important but temporary features of our beings. It is important to grasp the impermanent nature of phenomenal existence. Despite all the advances in medicine, longevity research, etc. we are eventually going to die one way or another. Meditation is a means of taking us beyond our preoccupations with the temporal and initiating us into the eternal aspect of ourselves. As the prayer from the Upanishads goes,

Asato ma sad gamaya
Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya
Mrityur ma amamritam gamaya

(Lead me from the unreal to the real
From darkness to light
From death to immortality)


If we accept that spirituality is a legitimate aspect of our beings than we must understand that it is not the exclusive province of any one religion, philosophy of system of practice. These are all ways that have been developed by those before us. What is valuable is only what we can use to further our development, our inner evolution. The spiritual traditions are, however, great resources. Religious traditions represent the collective evolution of humanity. At some point we must go beyond them into the mystery of our own being. At least it seems to be healthy!

What is Love?

All you need is love.

- Lennon and McCartney

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtS4ef0vqhU&feature=channel_video_title

Love like consciousness is ultimately indefinable. It can be recognized, experienced even talked about but not captured conceptually. Like consciousness, it cannot be objectified or measured. Essentially love is consciousness and consciousness is love. Love is the creative force of the universe, which is a drop from the limitless ocean of Being-Consciousness-Bliss. Hatred, fear, apathy, etc. are all attempts to retreat from love, to shield ourselves from its overwhelming force.

The individual ego has become a structure erected in defense against love. When we identify with the limited body mind vehicle through which consciousness explores this particular level of vibration, we tend to pull back, to contract ourselves. We retreat into “I, me and mine.” Then we set out to seek love, feel lonely and lost and otherwise indulge ourselves in our bittersweet misery. It’s a cosmic game of hide and seek. Unfortunately the game turns horrendous and ugly when we resort to violence, aggression and terror in our misguided searching.

Is love a feeling? Is it emotion and desire? Egoic love is where we start from on our journey back to Self. Eros propels us to reach beyond our boundaries, beyond our self-infatuation. However, if one does not love oneself. If one is tortured by self-loathing then that is simply projected onto the other. If one is narcissistically wounded and nurses beliefs of unworthiness, it becomes very difficult to enter into a loving relationship. True love, true healing means reconnecting with the substratum of loving awareness which is one’s own being.

A healthy loving relationship necessarily includes healthy boundaries, but the boundaries are porous. It requires structure but the structure is flexible, even fluid. It also requires a mutual relatedness to the greater being which includes and surrounds us. Not necessarily society, which is by and large collusion against love, but the greater Self found in meditation, contemplation, prayer, dance, play, work, devotion and true community.

Selfishness, jealousy and antipathy are bound to arise at times as long as we are identified with our human incarnations. Karma influences us only as long as we are identified with the body. Step outside of limiting beliefs and we are free. The show, however, must go on. As ego-clinging begins to loosen there is more room for humor, play and letting things slide. It is when the ego death grip begins to tighten that we are in trouble.

Ultimately the love between two people has to expand its capacity. I’m not talking about “open relationships.” It is not about and not not about sex. It is about bringing the shakti up from the groin to the heart chakra, swadhisthana to anahatha. The heart does not negate the genitals but transcends them. Universal love expresses through all of the chakras from Mooladhara to Sahasrara. At the crown it finds itself in unity, in the perfect union of Shiva and Shakti.

As we develop higher consciousness our ego boundaries expand and our love must expand to become all inclusive. We become love itself; discover that we are fundamentally loving awareness. In Sanskrit there is a beautiful mantra: Aham Prema, “I am love.” Love is our being, our truth and our goal. There is nothing but love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs-Cz0IYWz8&feature=player_embedded

Facing Life

Yoga enables you to face the ups and downs of life.

- Swami Satyananda Saraswati

We all want an easy, pleasant life. We all want to avoid painful experiences and unpleasant situations. This is part of our nature. However, to expect life to always go along with our wishes is, well, wishful thinking.

Yoga is a system of practices grounded in a spiritual philosophy. It is comprised of two primary components: wisdom and devotion. Wisdom tells us that life involves both enjoyment and suffering. We don’t get one without the other. Life is a play of opposites: hot and cold, up and down, good and bad, life and death . . . Without these, things would be extremely monotonous!

Devotion helps us to surrender to a higher wisdom and higher love. Unity, or non-duality, doesn’t mean monotony. Instead it means that there is a unified field of Consciousness within all beings and that all beings are contained within this field. Through devotion and surrender we join our individual awareness with that field which we sometimes refer to as God. At the same time we each need to work out our karma as individual “selves.”

Wisdom and devotion give us a connection to an inner center of calm, blissful awareness from which we can better handle the inevitable crises that life brings. It helps us to “let go and let God.”

The individual ego suffers because it wants things its way. We want to be in control but we are only part of a much greater unfolding reality. Try putting your hand out to stop the waves coming in from the ocean. If you’re not careful you’ll get knocked down. Wisdom helps you to pick yourself up out of the sand. Surrender allows you to ride the surf. Fear, doubt, pride and greed cause us to wipe out.

We ourselves are but waves upon the vast ocean of Being. We imagine ourselves to be separate but we are never so. As the mystic poet Kabir wrote, “I have been thinking of the difference between water and the waves on it./Rising, water's still water, falling back, it is water./Will you give me a hint how to tell them apart?” Meditation connects us with that deeper, vaster Self. It helps us to detach from our suffering and find happiness within. Once we are established in that inner sanctum the outer onslaughts of life have a significantly diminished impact.